RHS falls 30-7 in first round

CENTER POINT, Ala. — Russellville’s bid to knock of the tenth ranked Center Point Eagles got off to a good start Friday night, but a couple of quick scores to end the first half and to open the second opened the door for the Eagles to knock off the Golden Tigers 30-7 in the first round of the 5A playoffs.

The loss ends Russellville’s season at 5-6.

The Golden Tigers opened the game with a nine-play, 80-yard scoring drive capped off by a one-yard Devan Parker touchdown run. Jose Betancourt’s PAT gave Russellville a 7-0 lead with 6:34 to play in the first quarter.

Center Point quickly responded, moving the ball downfield and scoring on an 11-yard touchdown pass. The conversion tied the game.

The teams swapped possessions throughout the second quarter and it looked as if they were heading to the locker room deadlocked. But, a quick drive just before the half resulted in an Eagles touchdown, giving them a 14-7 halftime lead.

The turning point of the game came on the opening kick of the second half. Betancourt kicked a sky-kick to Center Point’s Cedric Poole, who usually plays deep. To open the second half, the Eagles’ coaches moved Poole up to the 35-yard line, where he fielded the ball and raced across the field for a 65-yard touchdown.

“That was big for momentum,” Golden Tigers head coach Michael Jackson said.

The Eagles would add a safety and a fourth quarter touchdown to complete the 30-7 victory.

Russellville junior running back Tyler Boyd carried the ball 19 times for 102 yards, pushing him over the 1,000-yard mark on the season.

Following the game, Jackson was quick to praise the 19 seniors on his first Golden Tigers team.

“I was proud of our seniors,” he said.

“They played hard all year and they are a great group of guys. We had some guys that grew up this year and we are looking forward to seeing what they can do, but this is about the seniors tonight. They played hard all year and they did tonight.”